What is Jiyushin?

What is Jiyushin? How does it relate
to our study of Budo? Does it fit in with whatever religion a
student believes in? Do I have to agree with the philosophy of
jiyushin to practice aikido or other arts within Jiyushinkai?
How is the basic philosophy of Jiyushinkai different from the
Ueshiba-ha ryu practice of aikido today? Good questions, right?
I hear these and many similar questions in my talks with students
from Jiyushinkai and from other groups. I will try to answer
these questions with my view (right now) of what jiyushin is.

Jiyushin is written with a combination
of three ideograms: The first kanji, ji,
means oneself.

The second kanji,
yu, is a reason or meaning. Jiyu means freedom.

The third kanji,
shin, is a combination of what we think of as our spirit,
our emotional mind, and our heartfelt feelings and deep seated
motives.

Added together, we have an idea of freedom
of heart/spirit/basic motives/self-reliance. It is often impossible
to pin down a Chinese or Japanese kanji in exactly equivalent
English words.

A specific use of the term jiyu occurs
within Zen Buddhism. In the original Chinese Ch'an or Zen the
idea of freedom was crucial to the ultimate experience of self-realization
or enlightenment. "Zen is purely devoted to liberating the
hidden potential of the human mind... The freedom that Zen proposes
is not remote, but right in this world. It does not require anything
extraneous, but can be put into practice in the midst of normal
occupations and activities. It is applicable immediately, and
develops naturally... According to Zen teaching, freedom that
depends on things of the world can be undermined, and freedom
that can be granted can be taken away." (Thomas Cleary,
Zen Essence - The Science of Freedom (Shambhala Publications,
1989) intro.) This freedom and the authority that both come with
it and from it are within us all. We can realize this freedom
at any time. "Enlightened Zen freedom, being in the world
yet not of the world... is not a negative detachment but a balance
of independence and openness...The paradox of Zen freedom is
that it is present and available, yet somehow elusive when deliberately
sought." (Cleary, intro.) For a basic understanding of jiyu,
form a word construct containing: free thinking / self-reliant
/ responsible / vulnerable / aware / self-confident. Of course
this sounds like something we all want! However, the more we
want "it" and look for "it", the more "it"
eludes us.

Zen Master Linji, as translated by Thomas
Cleary, says "What I point out to you is only that you shouldn't
allow yourselves to be confused by others. Act when you need
to, without further hesitation or doubt. People today can't do
this... what is the affliction? Their affliction is their lack
of self-confidence. If you do not spontaneously trust yourself
sufficiently, you will be in a frantic state, pursuing all sorts
of objects, unable to be independent." (Cleary, p.4) (This
original statement is from the ninth century!)

The question is, how do we achieve this
self-confidence or jiyushin? We must first discover our TRUE
INTENT, our original self full of pure intention. Try to remember
what the intent of a new baby feels like. Uncover, and bring
forth the freshness and originality of this intent. Now, how
do we change our daily habits and aquire the ability to express
and actualize this intent each instant? We must practice some
sort of disciplined awareness with this intent.

In order to
realize and live freedom, we must pass through the tempering
process of the fires of discipline.

By passing through the discipline
and then continuing the practice just for the sake of the practice,
we reach the state of no thought of self / no conscious mind
(muga / mushin). The every day mind of true jiyushin.

Which discipline do we practice? There
are many that I believe can lead to the same end. Budo (the Way
of peaceful self-defense), practiced properly, is one of the
strongest of these possible disciplines. Especially Budo practice
that involves intimate, intense communication of reality between
individuals at many levels with immediate feedback. Aikido is
one of these traditional practices.

Through proper practice of aikido, we can
realize the union of our body/mind/spirit. We learn to communicate
with our fellow human beings in the immediate experience... this
instant. We learn to trust that communication process and also
our practice partners. We gradually begin to trust ourselves
and in so doing; we begin to develop intuitive awareness of our
inner selves and feel the connection of all beings and the responsibility
we share. We allow the energy of our intentions and motivations
to become actualized. As we give attention to what we can feel
in this heightened awareness, we begin to make decisions about
our intent and our actions. We understand that we have creative
choice in our life, not just reactions.

As we become more skilled in this awareness
and intuitive, creative decision making, we develop "self-confidence"
in both the physical side of our practice and the inner spiritual
side. The longer we practice with pure intent (naishin), true
blending (riai), and no mind (mushin), the stronger is our jiyushin.

When we are children, many times, we learn
to make decisions because we are taught that unless we do what
others think is "right" we will be punished. We are
usually taught to ignore what our inner voices and our true intent
tell us and we are told to listen to outside authority. We have
all experienced many of the varied forms that this punishment
takes. Fear is the result of this decision making process. If
we learn to make our daily decisions based on values that come
from our original nature rather than what others have taught
us through fear; then we are practicing jiyushin. A life of jiyushin
is one of real, true, pure intent actualized in the world by
our actions without ever worrying whether the intent or the actions
are right or wrong. Any decisions about relative values of "right/wrong
or good/bad" will take care of themselves. What a frightening
vision... not having an outside authority to guide us and tell
us what to do... each of us being responsible... no one else
to blame! Many have called this "the Razor's Edge".
As with most fear, it is frightening because it is unknown. Therefore
we suffer from a lack of self-confidence. When there is a lack
of self-confidence, there are always many voices available telling
us what to think and do. However, once we realize this jiyushin,
we understand and have no problem "knowing". We have
faith tempered with doubt. Always open for new information...
we trust the "way of things"... the process. Ultimately,
ideally we no longer need leaders and teachers. We have "teacherless
knowledge". We can cooperate and communicate as equals and
colleagues. This jiyushin is evident and defined by our self-image
plus our actions and relationships filled with LOVE striving
for that which is conducive to the benefit and well being of
all creatures. We can understand how we take great comfort in
our similarities and gain tremendous power through our differences.

I have heard from students who have strong
religious beliefs that jiyushin does not fit in with their theology.
This may be so. However, true jiyushin is at the heart of all
spiritual systems. The belief in and practice of your religion
is your choice, your decision. If you have truly made that choice
yourself, then you are practicing jiyushin. If your religion
does not promote this freedom, the original message has been
lost and/or misinterpreted by fearful humans. If you do not agree
with this concept of jiyushin, and you have made this decision
based on your own values that come from your heart; then you
can still practice in the Jiyushinkai as long as you take care
of your partner including respecting their right to make their
own decisions that may not agree with yours. If you can do this,
then you are practicing jiyushin, not matter what you call it.

The realization of jiyushin in each aikidoka
and the social responsibility of living and practicing together
was the central idea of O-Sensei. He talked about it in different
terms because he was a follower of Shinto and one of its' splinter
groups known as Omoto Kyo. However, I think he wanted each individual
aikidoka to experience the oneness of the universe as he did
and realized that we do not have to all express our experiences
in the same way.

As in any movement or group, some others
may not have reached experiences themselves that were similar
to the spiritual enlightenment of O- Sensei. Lacking original
authority themselves, they tend to copy and use O-Sensei's truth
as their own. "...If you just stick to your teacher's school
and memorize slogans, this is not enlightenment, it is a part
of intellectual knowledge. This is why it is said, when your
perception only equals that of your teacher, you lessen the teacher's
virtue by half. When your perception goes beyond the teacher,
only then can you express the teacher's teaching..." (Cleary,
p.14) As long as these teachers encourage their students to seek
themselves and find their own way and express themselves freely
with responsibility, then we are still on different paths to
the same place.

The only real difference in Jiyushinkai
practice of Budo and others is in our practice methods. We follow
a set teaching syllabus that was designed along modern educational
methods. We achieve a basic understanding and competence in fundamentals
(kihon dosa) through the practice of standardized forms (seiteigata)
so that our intuitional learning takes place using good practice
tools and habits. We do not foster the feudal mind set of some
traditional practices, but try to keep the essence and truth
of budo practice alive. The practice of Jiyushin-ryu should not
be static, but an ever learning, growing, sharing of "Best
Use of Energy With Mutual Benefit" that gives us all a better,
more acute discipline/mirror within which we may continue to
deepen our awareness and realization.